


In Sickness Or In Health

by Clarybell90



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angry feelings in general, Armie isn't very happy with Kylo, Armitage Hux Has Issues, Bruises, But nothing explicit is in this work, Everyone Has Issues, Fluff and Angst, Happyish ending?, Hux loves his ship, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I'm Bad At Summaries, Illnesses, Kylo Ren Has Issues, Kylo forces Hux to rest, M/M, No one says sorry, Past Injuries, Possessive Behavior, Possessive Kylo Ren, Sick Armitage Hux, Sick Character, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren, The Finalizer, They had sex previously, Unhealthy Relationships, references to force choking, they both kinda suck though so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-07 08:06:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17362196
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clarybell90/pseuds/Clarybell90
Summary: "Let what happened that day die. I can now give you what you want, Hux. You can be my right hand, no one else to ever answer to. Isn't that what you want? Power." Kylo reaches out a single hand to Armitage. An offer. A promise.Hux wants to rail. Wants to snarl and spit and make Kylo regret thinking he would ever be close to him again. Yet, at the same time, every inch of him is tense and wanting. Hux needs this, and he hates himself for admitting it.Yet, before he can force himself to answer one way or another, another deep seeded cough forces it's way through Hux's body.





	In Sickness Or In Health

Hux wished that this feeling wasn't so familiar. He wishes that half his childhood didn't consist of fighting of the same tightness in his chest. Not a tightness from injury, though plenty of bruises mottle his chest. No. This is a much deeper restriction. One originating in the lungs rather than along the ribs.

Hux is sick.

The thought of it doesn't fail to conjure up loathing in the General. Of course, none would have expected him to be a healthy child. Not when he had come weeks early. Not with how slim he always has been, even after he got his teenage growth spurt. It was very much expected for him to constantly be ill. For him to be weaker than a normal boy. That, however, never stopped Brendol Hux from using it against his son. Armitage could still vividly remember being forced to attend class despite being unable to breathe. He also remembers just how many insults were hurled at him for being unable to focus. For being a distraction to the rest of the class. For being a disappointment.

The General of course doesn't much care anymore about what his father would think. Brendol's opinion died the same way he did, weak and humiliated. The memory of watching his father dissolve in a bacta tank still brings Armitage a wicked sense of satisfaction. A pleasure seeded in the joy of getting rid of one more obstacle. With a little help of course. Captain Phasma isn't here to relish in the good times though. She remains in a much similar place as the elder Hux once did. Luckily for her, Armitage still has plans for the Captain. So she will be left to heal.

Carefully straightening his uniform, Hux prepares to attend to his daily duties. With a little luck, and maybe a little tea, the wet tightness of his chest will relieve itself within a few days. He's a grown man now, and Armitage doubts the illness will catch up with him any time soon. If anything, the never ending pile of paperwork will kill him before this does. So, assured in his own predictions of health, the General heads out to the bridge.

* * *

 

The tea never comes. The only thing the redhead really intakes all day is several cups of caff, and several hundred reports. It seems that their newest Supreme Leader isn't above piling all the work on his subordinates either. Specifically on the General right below them.

Several images instantly pop unwittingly into Hux's mind at the mere thought of Kylo Ren. Flashes of a broad chest, of heated kisses, of seething glares. Most importantly of all though, there's the memory of that accursed day in that throne room. Then the disaster on Crait. Both of these instances are things of which Armitage has no plans on forgetting about. Nor forgiving. Whatever Hux and Kylo had created in those stolen nights months ago is dead now. The General doesn't intend on ever reviving it.

For now though, Hux's focus remains on repairing the wounded mess that is the First Order. He supposes that might be a blessing for their Supreme Leader. No need to worry about a mutiny right now. Not while everyone is too busy picking up the shattered pieces of their former glory. At least for a while, Kylo will be free of the plotting and backstabbing of the First Order hierarchy. For a while.

Shaking himself free of his own thoughts, Armitage checks the time on the data pad he is currently holding. He has been on duty for almost two and a half work cycles, and the General is starting to feel the effects of it. Finally deciding to take some form of a break, the redhead finishes his last report and heads back to his quarters.Yet right as he marks himself off duty, his comms buzz with a message. Annoyance instantly flares in the General as he goes to see what is so important.

The Supreme Leader is back from wherever place he dissipated to this time. Not only that, but he orders a meeting with Hux at the end of this cycle.

Hux's heart jumps right as he registers this, yet he squishes any other reaction down. Ren wanting to see him isn't the same any longer. Likely enough, the Supreme Leader plans on killing Hux now. Before the fiery General can become a problem down the line. It was a sensible action. Hux would do much the same if their positions were switched. Kriff, he already nearly did the same. Shame he just wasn't quick enough on the draw.

A bitter taste wells at the back of Hux's throat as he turns of the datapad. Only three hours were left of this shift. If he attempted to sleep now, no real rest would be gained. Not with the General's already existing tendency towards insomnia. No. There was nothing for him to do but prepare himself for what is to come.

Carefully, Armitage removes a small blade from it's case. He already has one sheathed, but he doesn't trust the sharpness of it. So he deftly switches one monomolecular dagger for another. If Kylo plans on killing him, Hux at least hopes to leave a mark behind. If not. Well. Better safe than sorry.

Trying to steel himself with a deep breath, Hux is drawn short by a cough.

It wretches itself from deep within his chest with the kind of force that causes the eyes to water. Hux is left gasping for breath as another one comes. And then another. He hadn't expected it to effect him so fast. Nor did he expect the illness to catch up to him at such an inconvenient time. Armitage supposes his breaths must have been shallower than he realized. That doesn't matter now though. He knows from experience that the only way to stop the coughing now would be medicine. Yet, when he checks his cabinets, he finds nothing but some basic bacta. The last time he had experienced truly being sick was so long ago that he never restocked.

So someone must know of his sickness, if only the person in charge of distributing medical supplies. They wouldn't question orders, but the burning inside Hux isn't just from his lungs. Or of the fever that surely is building beneath his skin. No, it's of a sense of abashment that shouldn't be there. A lingering voice in his mind that sounded suspiciously like Brendol. The feeling of being inadequate. Not quite good enough to avoid what should have been a simple cold.

Oh how Hux hated that part of himself that still whispered his father's words. Yet, the idea of allowing Ren to see him weak was enough to get himself moving. Within minutes the redhead ordered several pills, and a bitter syrup to nip this virus right in the bud. They should arrive before Hux's meeting with the Supreme Leader, (How he loathed thinking of that man as such.) and they should be working by the time Armitage makes it to Kylo's office.

Yes, no one else needs to know. Not a trooper, not a petty officer, and defiantly not Ren. Just the supplier, Hux, and the droid that delivers the medicine to him.

At least, that's what Armitage told himself as a distraction against the second fit of coughing that breaks through his throat.

* * *

 

Despite the fact that Hux knows that the temperature hasn't changed, he can't stop the chill that twists down his limbs as he requests access to Kylo Ren's chambers. He tells himself that it's just the fever leaving him. He refuses to think of the dread this meeting builds within him. Ren has never been the most predictable man in the galaxy. Unless you call an uncontrollable rage predictable. No, he truly was the closest thing to a wild card Armitage knew. One moment he would be curled up under the covers, the next he would be in an anger so fiery that Hux could practically smell the broken machinery.

And now that man is the one to hold the First Order in his hands. Not Hux.

The sting of it is what Hux grabs onto. The pain, the indignation, the anger. Unlike Kylo though, Hux doesn't wrap himself in his feelings. He instead bundles them into a single ball of lead. A cold stone that he can practically feel in his chest as he drops himself into his more order self. Into being the General once again. That emotion will be his anchor, not his weapon.

The sound of a lock disengaging is Hux's only warning before the doors woosh open. The room beyond is considerably darker than the artificial light of the hallway. If Armitage remembered right, that's just how Ren liked it. He steps inside.

Right next to the window sits Kylo Ren, his back towards the General. Hux has to keep a sneer from forming as he brings himself to a reasonable spot in the room. He's sure Ren is parsing through his head right now. Not that the redhead finds anything inside him to care. A small part even hopes the other man will pull back from his emotions. Will realize just how stupid it was to cross Hux like he had. The General knows better than to hope though.

"Supreme Leader," Armitage says, forcing the contentment from his voice. Ren might put up with simple emotions, but Armitage isn't stupid enough to try and verbally jab at him. Not in a way so obvious. No. The verbal sparring will be for later. If Kylo even entertained him for that long.

He tried not to think on the building pressure in his lungs.

"General," Kylo speaks, his voice lilted into that timbre that used to make Hux push him onto the bed. Used to make him take his mouth so forcefully they were both gasping for air by the end of it. Hux hates that sound now. It's yet another reminder of his weakness.

Kylo never looks away from the glass, but Armitage can see the way Ren's eyes flit to his reflection. The General refuses to let him see anything but stony cold and resentment. Refuses to register that look on the face he can see in the window. Hux was fooled once by this man, he won't be lulled again. Let Ren see how this rabid cur can bite.

"Tell me about our progress in repairing the fleet," Kylo finally lets out. His eyes never leave Hux's reflection.

The General is almost shocked on such a normal status report. Yet, he doesn't allow that to pause him for long. In seconds he's rattling off numbers, statistics, and time sheets. All of it is perfectly ordered. Hux almost forgets most of what is wrong with this situation.

At least, until that pressure in his lungs reaches a bursting point.

Hux barely manages to finish his sentence before his hand flies to his mouth in some attempt to muffle the wracking cough that tears it's way through him. Of course it doesn't stop with one either. Several long moments pass before Armitage can finally suck in a breath that doesn't result in more of the same. Shame and fury burn through his gut like a lightsaber.

At some point during his fit, Kylo had turned to look at Hux.

The General despises the look on his face. That sweet spot between amusement, concern, and that mask Ren tries to put over his emotions. He never was good at hiding them completely. That's probably why the Knight of Ren used to wear a helmet.

"It appears, General, that you've caught the same illness as several others on this ship," Kylo hums softly into the now quiet room.

Armitage is almost impressed. Kylo Ren, the Kylo Ren, actually read one of the reports that was sent out base wide. It was true, several other officers had caught a common sickness recently. Hux had just expected it to have passed by the time he caught it. Besides, he was too busy to stop everything for a cold. The only regrettable thing was that he was unable to contain it before this meeting. Now Ren had another weakness to exploit.

"Thank you for the _concern_ , Supreme Leader," Hux sneers slightly. Instantly the look on Kylo's face drops into something akin of annoyance. Good. Hux doesn't want any of pity.

The two of them stare each other down for several long minutes. The icy ball of hatred inside Hux is only tempered by the raising temperature of his skin. The antibiotics aren't working, and the General can practically feel the fever growing. He can only try and conceal the sensation from Ren's prying head. All of this will be over soon anyways.

Instead of yelling, or using the Force, or even activating his lightsaber, Kylo drops his gaze. He looks something akin to a kicked puppy with the way his much too expressive eyes soften. The expression drives Armitage insane.

"I never meant for things to happen this way," He mutters once again with that aching timbre. Hux forces his lip to curl in disgust, even as he's shocked into several long moments of silence.

"And how, pray tell, does something such wh-", The redhead starts, only to be cut short by more ragged coughing. First the cold humiliated him, and now it's even forcing him to reign in his verbal battles. Truly, Hux thinks, this is a low point.

Hux doesn't register movement until he feels the hands grab onto his arms, steadying. Instantly the General jerks back, not caring about the burning caused by every breath. Ren remains where he stood, arms still slightly outstretched for the General.

"I don't care what you intended," Hux can't keep the rasp from his voice, "Now if all you wanted to tell me was your excu-"

"They ar-" Kylo interjects, only to cut himself off. The anger between the two of them is almost palpable. It takes Kylo several moments to steady the shaking of rage from Hux's rejection.

"Let what happened that day die. I can now give you what you want, Hux. You can be my right hand, no one else to ever answer to. Isn't that what you want? Power." Kylo reaches out a single hand to Armitage. An offer. A promise.

Hux wants to rail. Wants to snarl and spit and make Kylo regret thinking he would ever be close to him again. Yet, at the same time, every inch of him is tense and _wanting_. Hux needs this, and he hates himself for admitting it.

Yet, before he can force himself to answer one way or another, another deep seeded cough forces it's way through Hux's body. His entire being rattles with the force of it. His knees wobble. It's mere seconds before Armitage finds himself against a familiar chest, covered in tacky black robes.

"I would ask you when you last ate and slept, but I saw how many reports you sent out," Kylo rumbles. The words would almost be worried if not for the sarcasm coating them. It was a game both of them were well versed in when late night romps became a bit more. Hux hates himself for missing it.

Yet, before Hux can once again bring up the promise of a promotion, Kylo gets this impish grin on his face. Hux had seen the same look multiple times before on the man, most of the time right before he did something that he knew would either piss the General off, or make him gasp and beg for more.

Kylo raises a hand to Hux's head, and Armitage barely has time to register the word "Force" before everything goes black.

* * *

 

Armitage wakes up hours later with medicine by his bed, his schedule cleared, and the sheets smelling achingly of a certain Knight of Ren.

Hux can't even bring himself to do much more than send a single message to the Supreme Leader.

_'Don't you think our conversation is over.'_

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever Star Wars fanfiction. I hope you enjoyed it, and feel free to fix any mistakes you saw in the comments. I never got a beta to read it so....


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